PETOSKEY — The opponents on the Petoskey boys basketball team's schedule may want to throw a pair of running shoes into the bag this season.

Add in an extra towel and make sure the water bottle is filled to the brim.

They’re going to need it all against the Northmen.

With a smaller lineup filled with multi-sport guys like cross country, football and soccer athletes, players along the opposing bench better get ready for a well conditioned team and prepared to run, a lot.

“A lot of our guards are track guys and cross country guys. We’re going to be running a lot this year,” Petoskey senior guard Jimmy Marshall said. “It should be fun to watch too.”

At 6-foot-2, Marshall is actually one of the tallest on the team for the Northmen this season, with the talented shooting guard far from any kind of post player.

Petoskey has a handful of recent years of enjoying the height of guys like Jace Copeland and Brady Ewing, both 6-foot-5 or taller, before then 6-foot-7 Cade Trudeau a year ago.

Marshall knows things will be different in 2023-24 without Trudeau – who now plays for Northwood University – and he and the rest of the Northmen got started on the new look during the first official practice of the season Monday.

“Losing Cade, we lose a lot of our rebounding, but we’re just going to have to play faster,” he said. “We’ll beat (opponents) up and down the floor, play fast, run hard, play hard defense and then crash the boards obviously.”

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If there’s one thing Petoskey will be on the court this season, it’s competitive.

They’ve got a plethora of athletes who compete in at least one other sport, mainly in the fall with Marshall, Charlie Smith and then Brady and Dylan Odenbach playing soccer. The Odenbach brothers, along with Shane Izzard run cross country, then there’s football players in Korbin Sulitis, Lucas O’Donnell, Haden Janes, Luke Matelski, Brendan Klingelsmith, Mason Fralick and Ely Pethers.

“We’ve got a lot of two-sport athletes on this team,” Petoskey coach Matt Tamm said. “That’s what we want to see. We want to have guys that want to compete.”

Tamm knows they're not going to be able to play a lot of teams straight up – especially with the schedule they have early – so that competitiveness will go a long way in countering teams, they'll just have to want it more.

“I just think we have to pressure,” said Tamm. “We have to pressure with our full-court, then we have to pressure on the fastbreak. I think it’ll be a real fun group. The guys like each other. They’re skilled, we’ve got really good quickness and depth.”

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Marshall and Izzard return as the leading scorers from a year ago, though O’Donnell saw his time increase as the season went on, along with Brady Odenbach.

“Brady really came on at the end of last year and he had a really good summer,” Tamm added. “Lucas had significant playing time last year, just identifying his role. Mason Fralick has worked really hard at his game.”

When teams counter their speed and ability to play fast on both ends, Tamm also knows that’s where having guys like Sulitis and Matelski – both coming off big seasons along the PHS defensive line on the football field – can pay off inside. A fast team will have to get physical real quick.

“There’s a few of those guys that I thought really stepped it up on the football field and showed some toughness. We need that,” Tamm said. “This summer we were too nice on the defensive side, we weren’t physical enough.”

Petoskey will work on figuring out the team this week, carve out some roles for guys – new and veteran – then hit the road to Grand Blanc to meet some tough teams in a scrimmage this Saturday, Nov. 18.

Coming off an 18-7 record from a year ago, the Northmen will get things going at Grayling on Tuesday, Dec. 28, then host the newly named Sean Pollion Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1-2.

While Petoskey opponents are encouraged to bring their running shoes, Marshall’s in the boat of needing to just lace up tight. He’s so excited to get started he might just run right out of his shoes.

“I can’t wait to get going,” Marshall added. “I’ve been waiting for this for a while. We have a good senior class and we all bond really well.We want to set the tone and go into the state tournament with a good record. I just want to add wins.”

Contact Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey boys basketball looking to set the pace as 2023-24 begins